The Choice
by LovelyLoreley
Summary: Mag's journey through the world of Repo! The Genetic Opera. At least for now. It'll probably switch to other characters at some point as well. WARNING: It will be quite a bit different from the movie, so don't throw chairs at me!
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so I'm changing quite a few parts of the story for this, so if there's something I need to explain I'll probably do it before the chapter. Or possibly after. It depends. This chapter is about Blind Mag, I'm starting it from the 'adult' generation I suppose you could say. Read, review, favorite, alert, etc. and I will be motivated to post more often! ~Loreley**

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When the doctors finally handed her the newborn, the woman began to coo. She had always wanted a daughter. "Magdalene, my beautiful little Magdalene…" The baby's father leaned over the woman's shoulder, smiling as well.

Then the girl opened her eyes, and both parents gasped in shock and horror. The baby girl was blind. It was obvious from her unfocused gaze and the color of her eyes, the cloudy white of milky water. She was a Stain, a failure. A recent epidemic had begun to occur, an organ failure epidemic. Those whose kidneys or livers stopped working were shunned, as though they carried a disease. Perhaps they did. But this couple was prominent in society and could not afford to be Stained by a corrupted child. They knew in that moment that they would never be able to call the girl their own.

The woman looked over her shoulder, her eyes pleading. "What can we do? We cannot just give her away. She is ours. I do not care if she is imperfect. She is my Magdalene!"

"I know," the father murmured, stroking his wife's hair and the baby's forehead. "We will keep her with us. But we cannot call her our own, you know that. All of our hard work would be for nothing…."

They both stared at the baby for a minute, before the mother spoke again. "Perhaps if we say we took her in…not as our child but as her protectors. We could say her father was unknown and we could not save her mother from a heart failure."

"But what would we do with her, if we do not treat her as our child?"

"We will have to treat her as a beloved servant," the woman said heavily. "I know it is not ideal, it is not what we wanted, but she shall still be close to us, and it will not interfere with your research this way."

"And what shall we call her? People will want to know whose child she is."

They both thought a moment longer. It occurred to the father that there was one other small problem: Magdalene's brother. At six years of age, he might recognize Magdalene as his baby sister, rather than a stranger. After all, Magdalene would need a mother's care for the first few years.

There was no getting around the fact that the baby would be a Stain on their family; ensuring their reputation would require throwing her out on the streets. No one would trust a Stained family. But neither mother nor father could abandon her. It was not her fault. Perhaps it was theirs. In that moment, looking at his little fragile daughter, the man made a vow to himself. He would use his research to find a cure for her blindness. If he could only cure her, he could safely call her his daughter. Nothing would stop him from doing this.

He carefully pried the baby from her mother's arms and held her up to the light. "We shall call her Defoe. Magdalene Emilie Defoe." Magdalene the Depraved.


	2. Chapter 2

Everybody called the girl Mag. Mag was an acceptable name, and Magdalene was entirely too sophisticated for a servant girl. Yet Mag knew that she wasn't an ordinary servant. Perhaps it was the fact that she was never beaten, that she was always treated like family, or that she never had to do awful things like clean the toilet or scrub the floors.

But more than likely it was the voices. There was the voice that had whispered to Mag every night before the woman tucked her into bed: "Momma loves you, Maggie." Mag called this voice Mother's voice. Then there was Father's voice, the one that always laughed when the strong arms picked her up and spun her in a circle.

And then there was the boy's voice. Mother's voice and Father's voice called this voice Rotti, or Rottissimo when they were angry. Rotti did not say all that much. He didn't see that there was much to say to a servant. Because no matter how much Mag believed that he was her brother (He called Mother's voice Mother and Father's voice Father, too), to him, Mag was nobody.

Mag learned to ignore the sympathy of the other voices, the strangers. She never understood why they exclaimed about her unfortunate loss of parents, because clearly Mother and Father were right there. By the time Maggie was six, she would sing as she worked about the house, dusting, sweeping, and cooking. And even though she was a Stained child, there was no doubt about it – Mag was very much loved, and not just by Mother and Father.

And then Mother's voice went away and Maggie had to tuck herself in at night. Father's voice laughed less than it coughed, and the arms grew too weak to swing around a healthy growing girl. Besides, Father was busy working on this thing he called zydrate, which would help him replace organs for the populace in a quick and painless manner. Rotti called zydrate "a real money-maker."

When Father's voice could barely speak above a whisper, he called both Rotti and Mag to his bedside. There were others there, of course; strange voices, but Mag didn't really see how they could matter. Father wasn't their father, after all.

Father told Rotti that he would be inheriting all of his work. He also told Rotti to promise to take care of Mag. Rotti promised. A few weeks later he had perfected Father's zydrate and opened Father's dream company: GeneCo. Rotti installed a payment method that allowed patients to "cheat death," as he put it. GeneCo surgeons were busy all day every day replacing the failed organs of the people, and Mag was kept busy cleaning up after them and making sure the patients were comfortable.

As promised, GeneCo's surgery made Rotti Largo a millionaire almost overnight. Mother and Father, wherever they were, should have been proud but for one exception. Father had not been able to create eyes to replace Mag's blind ones. And of course, Rotti had no idea that Mag was actually his sister. Perhaps if he had, things would have turned out differently.

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**HA! Yes, Mag is Rotti's sister. (Please don't send a Repo man after me!) I am actually very pleased with how this chapter came out. There are more surprises on the way! *ducks flying chairs* As always read, review, favorite and follow! ~Loreley**


	3. Chapter 3

**Fair warning, this chapter is...well, a little depressing. Also, I apologize for it being so long but I didn't want to cut the scene in half. Hope you enjoy!**

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Mag would always remember the day she left GeneCo – it was the day Rotti broke his promise.

It was about four months after Rotti had begun the company, four months after his name and the company's name became famous. The new GeneCo building would be opened with a grand ceremony and Mag had spent the past few hours helping the newly hired GenTerns make sure everything was perfect for when Rotti moved into his new quarters in the penthouse suite. The Largo mansion would be abandoned in favor of the spotlight.

Mag had just gotten home and was looking forward to a few hours of sleep, when a GenTern informed her that Rotti had requested her presence in his office. She went.

Inside the office were two people. Mag could hear them talking as she approached the door. One voice belonged to Rotti, and the other was female. Mag stopped before knocking, wondering if she was interrupting a private conversation.

"You know I don't like to do this, Rose. She's been almost a part of my family ever since I can remember. Besides, how will she fare out on the streets if she is blind? It seems cruel…"

"Oh as if you could not ever be cruel! Rottissimo, how you make me laugh!" came the lilting female reply with a heavy Italian accent. "I cannot stand to have that Stain be placed on our family, if we are to become a family. I cannot fathom why you would prefer to have her than me." Mag could imagine the pout the woman would be making as she said this. Who was this woman anyway? Her voice didn't sound at all familiar. The woman paused, and her next statement was soft, compassionate. "Look, I know how you feel about her. And you've already told me that your father expected you to continue his work in trying to replace her eyes. But you must recognize that it is something _you cannot do_. Not only is she Stained, but it is a Stain you cannot remove! Think of the implications that will have for GeneCo. It is far better to have her make her own way on the streets; it is where she belongs, with the other Stains. And if she is as charming a girl as you have said, someone will take pity on her and take her in."

"The world is full of scoundrels," Rotti muttered in reply. "What sort of scoundrel will take her off the streets?"

"That is none of our concern. I will not live under the same roof as a Stained girl, Rotti."

Mag heard the two people stand and decided that it would probably be best if she wasn't seen outside the door. She ducked into a side room just as the door to Rotti's office opened. "Rosealina, rest assured that I will send her off. I have already called her to my office and expect her any minute now." A rustle of skirts told Mag that the woman had stormed off down the hallway. Rotti went back in his office and closed his door.

Mag stood in the dark room, her heart pounding. What was it Rotti had said? Was he going to turn her out on the streets? But he would never do that, he had promised Father to keep her safe. She decided to wait another minute before going to Rotti just to make sure he didn't think she had overheard anything. The Rose woman had been right to mock his reluctance to cruelty; he could have a nasty temper when he wanted.

She crept out of the room and knocked on Rotti's door.

"Magdalene. Please, come in and sit down," came her brother's voice. She could tell from its placement that he was staring out his window at the city. Rotti's office had once been Father's office, and Mag vaguely wondered if the same deep green curtains (Father had told her about them many times – it had been Mama's favorite color) hung over the window.

She sat in the chair that always sat before the desk, waiting for Rotti to speak.

"Now, Mag, you knew this was going to happen eventually. I do truly enjoy having you around here, but now that I have GeneCo to run, I just can't afford to have a Stained servant wandering around. Besides, this house is the only place you really know. The GeneCo building would already be a big change, so you may as well take advantage of new experiences and find yourself a new position." He said it carelessly, factually, but not cruelly. Mag was perhaps the only person to whom he would not intentionally be cruel.

"You…do not want me here, Rotti?"

"Oh, Mag." He sighed heavily. "It isn't that I don't want you. It is many other things, but they are not entirely in my control. You are Stained, incurably Stained. I cannot afford to have a Stained servant working around the GeneCo building. Actually, GeneCo doesn't really need any servants at all. My GenTerns keep their workspaces clean as well as work for me personally in my residence. Everything must be perfectly organized and impeccably clean. And while you are wonderful at the housework and whatnot, your own appearance is an entirely different matter. Your hair is unkempt, you clothes wrinkled and crooked…" He trailed off as if unwilling or unable to continue.

"Rotti…who was that woman with the rustling skirts?" Mag asked him hesitantly.

"Oh. I presume you mean Rosealina. She's, well, my fiancée." Mag could imagine Rotti grinning ruefully as he said it.

"She doesn't want me here." It came out as a statement and Mag realized that pretending she hadn't overheard their conversation was probably useless at this point. "She's jealous of me, isn't she?"

Rotti was silent for a long time before he sighed. "Yes, I think she is. You could be really beautiful if you knew how, Mag. And she knows that I already see you as a part of my family, more so even than I see her. But I need her to be my family now Mag, not you. You can understand that, can't you?"

She could, so she nodded, unable to speak. Rotti remained quiet as she walked out of his office and down the stairs. Mag could feel Rotti's eyes on her, though, as she unerringly headed for the front door of his mansion. In all the years that she had lived there, she had never gone out alone.

The doorknob was cold in her hand and twisted silently, smoothly, until she had opened the door just wide enough to slip through the crack. The doorknob on the outside was even colder than on the inside. When she pushed it shut, it made a definite, defiant click. Mag was officially alone.

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**Well there it is! I know the first couple of chapters were narrated rather distantly from Mag but the rest should follow this style, more in the moment so to speak. If you didn't notice a difference then just forget about it haha and please, REVIEW! It motivates me to write faster and more often, and I'm not sure how many people care about this compared to the other things I write. So review and let me know that you are interested in future chapters! Oh, and I'm sorry it was so dark and depressing, hopefully it'll get more pleasant in the future ~Loreley**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, I'm sorry, I know it's been awhile. Also, bear with me in this chapter, as I am not blind so I really don't know how Mag would feel in this situation. If it isn't even realistic in the slightest, I apologize!**

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Outside of the Largo Manor, all was quiet. Mag stood quietly as well, straining her ears for anything that would indicate where she would go. Perhaps there would be footsteps, or the beckoning of a whispered voice. She thought she heard, far off in the distance to her right, a murmuring of voices and shuffling feet. She hesitantly began to walk in that direction.

The murmuring grew louder, and Mag began to walk faster, her hand trailing along the sides of buildings as she headed for what she assumed was a crowded street. The building she was trailing ended abruptly and Mag stumbled as the noises came from her right instead of in front of her. She turned.

This street was much smaller than the one before; Mag felt as if it were closing in on her. By stretching out both arms, she could feel buildings on either side of her. The street here was uneven, forcing Mag to slow her pace and pick her way over piles of garbage and…she hoped she wasn't stepping on bodies, but the smell was bad enough that it was certainly a possibility.

When the small street ended in another cross street, the noise became almost overwhelming in an instant. There were people all around her, walking, talking, and threatening to push Mag down as she stood trying to get her bearings. Then someone grabbed her arm and tugged her forward.

"Hey!" Mag exclaimed. "Wh-what are you doing? Let go!" She tried to break free of the stranger's grasp but it was too strong. She was dragged across the street, muttering, "Excuse me," as she was pulled into other people walking the street. One guy snarled at her, "Watch it!" but most people said nothing.

Finally the chaos around her retreated into quiet and her attacker released her arm. "Are you going to explain yourself?" she demanded, trying to sound unafraid.

"Oh, stop it, kid," came the voice of a young man. "How old are you anyway? Fourteen?"

Her initial relief at the silence faded as she realized just why this guy might have pulled her away from the crowd. "Sixteen, actually, but that's beside the point. Why did you drag me over here?"

"I know who you are," he said simply. "You're Mag Defoe, the girl who works at the Largo Manor. Everyone knows you're blind. What're you doing out here? These people would trample you into the dust and not even turn around to see your lifeless body."

Mag gulped. "I used to work for Rotti Largo, yes, but not anymore. I've chosen to go my own way," she told the boy boldly.

"Interesting," he said slowly, and Mag could feel his gaze scorching her. "Any idea what way that is? I'd be happy to point you in the right direction." She could tell he was laughing at her.

"I don't need your help!" she spat, becoming more frightened and angry by the minute.

"On the contrary my dear, I think you need my help more than you'd ever care to admit. Besides the fact that you are young, dressed in rags, and blind – assuring that many men would be happy to claim you – if you intend to make your way in the streets, you need someone who can navigate them. You're an awfully skinny little bird, aren't you? Come on, let's get some food into you."

Two of his fingers touched the back of her hand – an offering, not a demand. Mag relaxed and placed her hand in his, allowing him to tuck it into his arm, pulling her close to his side. "You can call me Terrence, by the way," he said lightly as they began to walk back toward the throngs of people.

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**Okay, just to clarify some stuff since I've changed things around, I'm gonna let you know everyone's age. Like I put above, Mag is 16, which makes Rotti 22. The fiancee, Rose, is 25. Terrence (yeah, you know this guy already, he is not an original character ;)...) is 18. Please, read and REVIEW! And if you have any questions, put them in a review or PM me, I'll be sure to reply, I promise! ~Loreley**


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